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The Riddle of the Sphinx
| season = 2 | number = 4 | image = .jpg | airdate = May 13, 2018 | runtime = 1 hr 11 min | writer = Gina Atwater & Jonathan Nolan | director = Lisa Joy | previous = "Virtù e Fortuna" | next = "Akane No Mai" }} "The Riddle of the Sphinx" is the fourth episode of the second season of Westworld, and fourteenth episode overall. Plot Synopsis Plot Details Official details here: https://www.hbo.com/westworld/season-2/s2-ep-4-the-riddle-of-the-sphinx/episode-4-synopsis Work In Progress Please wait until a section is complete, so that it's not the final plot section, before editing. William Visits James We see James Delos going through his daily routine in a modern, rather minimalist apartment. His hand trembles as he pours milk for his coffee, it spills over the tray. He has a visitor: William. Delos’ son-in-law assures him “the observation period is almost over.” Delos just has to complete a “baseline interview” for “fidelity.” James has trouble believing that a later conversation will replicate this one. William says that his initial reaction was the same and he passes James a few sheets of paper to read. James is surprised as he reads it. Time has passed, and a slightly older William visits Delos. They repeats his exact questions and answers from earlier. Again, he tells him that Delos didn’t recover and that it’s been "seven years". He tells Delos his wife has passed and also that they need to keep him for further observation. Delos starts to glitch. William tells him that he'll come again tomorrow and leaves. Outside the chamber, William gives the go ahead to terminate his father-in-law, the technician presses a button, James freezes and flames fill the apartment. Time passes again and a new employee tells James Delos he has a visitor: a much older William, aka the Man in Black, who looks so different that James doesn't recongnise him at once. Even so, they repeats the same conversation from William’s earlier visits. William tells Delos he's suffering from a “cognitive plateau.” It’s the 149th time they’ve brought him back. He tells James that this project was a mistake and perhaps "no one is meant to live forever." William tells James that his wife Juliette — Delos’ daughter — killed herself. Delos calls out to "Logan"and William tells him that Logan is also dead "overdosed". He leaves the quarantined room, and this directs the employee not to terminate Delos, but rather to "observe his degradation." Ashley and The Woman, Taken Prisoner The Ghost Nation leads hostage guests and Delos employees — including Ashley Stubbs and the woman who escaped, first from The Raj and then from the tiger. Stubbs tells the Woman that the warriors are only killing hosts, not humans. She is not reassured. He assures her he'll get her and the other guests out of danger. The Woman tells Stubbs she’s "not looking to get out." Later, the Ghost Nation leads the hostages to tribe leader Akecheta. The Woman seizes her chance and escapes. Bernard Finds a Familiar Face Clementine drags a trussed up Bernard Lowe by the scruff of his neck to the mouth of a cave where she unties his hands and leaves, with a rifle, without a word. In the cave, Bernard discovers Elsie Hughes, alive and very angry with him for leaving her there. After he frees her from her leg chains she makes to leave, but Bernard convinces her that he's a host and that he needs her help. After running a diagnostic analysis, Elsie tells him he has extensive damage and that he needs cortical fluid - she says that there's nowhere for miles that has the things she needs to help him. Bernard recalls he's been to this cave before — and the facility inside, he sees himself walk into the cave and open a hidden door. Bernard and Elsie walk through into a lab: the same space Bernard and Charlotte Hale escaped to in "Journey Into Night" except now it has dead researchers and drone hosts. Bernard remembers he killed them and destroyed the facility. Disoriented, Bernard's memories slowly replay what happened in his earlier visit to the lab. Elsie and Bernard move deeper into the facility where they come upon the technician William told to observe Delos' degradation - and then a very degraded James Delos, whom Bernard recognizes. Delos attacks Elsie and Bernard fights him off. They leave the host Delos on the floor of the apartment and leave; Elsie finds the surviving control terminal commences termination, burning Delos alive. She realizes that Delos Corporation: "printed his body and copied his developed mind onto a control unit like our hosts." She starts to piece together what the corporation is really after. Later that night, Bernard remembers why Ford sent him to the lab in the first place: to print a control unit for another human, but he can't remember who. Bernard tells Elsie he's in control now and promises to never hurt her again. He flashes back to the moment he destroyed the lab and had the drone hosts kill the techs before breaking their own necks. One tech survives, but Bernard delivers the final blow, smashing the man's head into the floor with his foot. Coming back to himself in the present, Bernard tells Elsie that everything's fine. Cast Main Cast Guest Starring * Peter Mullan as James Delos * Jimmi Simpson as William * Jonathan Tucker as Major Craddock * Zahn McClarnon as Akecheta * Tantoo Cardinal as Ehawee * Currie Graham as Craig * Lena Georgas as Lori Co-Starring * Price Carson as Border Barkeep * Izabella Alvarez as Lawrence's Daughter * Olga Aguilar as Lawrence's Wife * Adel Telesia as Assistant * Andy Taylor Kim as New Assistant * Alexander Ward as Lead Drone * Mark R. Miscione as Head Tech * Dietrich Gray as Rail Baron * Kelvin Han Yee as Foreman Trivia and Notes The title "The Riddle of the Sphinx" is Greek in origin. It is this: "Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?". The answer is "man", who crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two feet for most of his life, and then walks with a cane when he is elderly. General *To accurately portray William repeating the same situation at multiple stages of his life, Jimmi Simpson and Ed Harris rehearsed William's meetings with James Delos together, carefully watching each other's movements while blocking the scene. Simpson in particular adjusted his performance especially to match Harris's.EW interview with Lisa Joy about this episode Mistakes Quotes Host James Delos: I'm all the way down now. I can see all the way to the bottom. You like to see what I see? Elsie Hughes: Stay away. Host James Delos: They said there were two fathers. One above, one below. They lied. There was only ever the devil. And when you look up from the bottom, it was just his reflection... laughing back down at you. (breathing stops) Host James Delos: (after sitting up) You aim to cheat the devil... you owe him at least an offering. Elsie Hughes: Save your bullets. I'll put him out of his misery. (James goes up in flames) Lawrence's Daughter: They might not remember... but I know who you are, William. One good deed doesn't change that. Man in Black: Who said anything about a good deed? You wanted me to play your game. I'm gonna play it to the bone. Laurence's Daughter: And you still don't understand the real game we're playing here. If you're looking forward, you're looking in the wrong direction. Grace: Hi, Dad. Music *''Play with Fire'' (Rolling Stones) *''Do the Strand'' (Roxy Music) Image Gallery/HBO Episode Stills This gallery is automatically generated and contains images in the category "Images from ". Images added to that category turn up in the gallery after a short time. namespace = File category = Images from The Riddle of the Sphinx format = ,%PAGE%\n,, allowcachedresults = true External links References de:Das Rätsel der Sphinx Category:Season two episodes